Marriage

Congratulations on your engagement! Your decision to enter into the relationship of married life is a sign of love, hope and strength for the entire community. We support you in your commitment for a faithful and lifelong Christian marriage. Because Matrimony is a sacrament, the Catholic Church wants couples to be well-prepared. Marriage preparation helps couples develop a better understanding of the sacrament, to evaluate and deepen their readiness to a life-long married life, and to gain insights into themselves as individuals and as a couple. The Church has a rich tradition on sacramental marriage and covenantal union. The Old Testament authors write of God making a covenant with the chosen people and promising them that they will never be forsaken. The New Testament authors write of Jesus as the new covenant and compare the relationship of Jesus with the Church to the relationship of a husband and wife. The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership for the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring.It is also a public statement about God: the loving union of husband and wife speaks of family values and also God's. Contact Father Gideon for information on this sacrament 740-653-1229.